redline410

Thanks for the replys everyone- pops and I have a pretty good time pounding that little area, even if it doesn't have any deer in it His buck is in the 108" range. Until the day comes when he can't hike into those hills with me, he's young enough to carry the "dude" moniker By the way, there are two pages of some fantastic October bucks- congratulations to everyone! and holy crap some of you can park those little hot burning slugs of love from a long ways off! read some remarkable stories with amazing shot distances One of these days I'm going to put my big boy pants on and give that distance shooting a whirl.....

During 2009 my dad found a coues buck that pretty much drove him to the brink of insanity. Throughout the summer he watch this buck grow a bigger and better set-o-antlers and as October approached, his dream buck went A-Rod and disappeared. We ended up taking some decent deer that year but he was still haunted by that buck. By the time we were ready for the 2010 season, he had seen this buck no fewer than twenty times, and I have the text messages to prove it. Dude would text me pictures from his scouting trips with school girl giddiness. He found a few other bucks he thought I'd like to take but I had already decided I'd do everything I could to help him find his buck even if it took the entire hunt. Opening morning was a total bust, with only a few doe and some busted egos. We sat around the camp fire that night discussing trying a new spot to see if he moved but with zero pressure I told him to give it one more shot, the worst that could happen was we'd have to hunt a different spot in the afternoon. That following morning, well before shooting light, I heard one of the shakiest "Bud I see a deer" I had ever heard. Dad described what he was looking at, I got the white spot in the binoculars and stared like I was catatonic. As the sun continued to rise and add detail to the mountain side, I saw those signature brow tines and tried to remain calm. after last season, the debacle that ensued when he thought the buck he killed was the big boy I did everything I could to keep emotions in check. "Dad, be cool and breath. Its him and we have all day" I told him. Gun came out and the search for a rest was frantic. rocks, tree limbs, kneeling, sitting- it was crazy! I grabbed my pack and his pack and stacked them on a nice little flat spot and directed him to get comfortable. At this point I was going to back up his shot but didn't have a rest either. I took another look in the glass to see what the buck was doing before I made any stupid decisions and the old man whispered "I got him lined up, should I take it?" in just as calm voice as there was. "If you have him, send it" I told him.... kind of a strange thing, I never heard the rifle go off just the WHOOOOP- saw the buck jump and kick like a bronc. he took a few quick steps so I suggested dude cycle another round. The buck side stepped, wobbled and went pinchers up....After the last twich, I let the emotions go. I was dang proud of my dad for what he had just done. A few high fives, a great big hug and some colorful words descibing the victory and his pursuit was over... Those 5" Brows were a dead give away My dad and I with his trophy. The little kicker was a pretty distinctive trait too. The rest of the trip seemed rather anticlimactic- I did manage to put a jack stomping on this little guy Sunday night and in the process relocated a buck we affectionately dubbed "High Two". High Two is now on the clock..... Next October is going to be a blast.... Dave

What a great buck! Congrats......

Nice job boys!! 105" with a leftover tag- solid!

My old man has decided to turn his third child out into the world, his swarovski spotter, as he can no longer fully enjoy its brilliance. I am fairly certain he protected this piece of equipment better than my brother and I growing up and because of that, it spends more time in the truck than on the hills due to his fear it may become damaged or worse yet DIRTY!! So here it is- its four years old (not the HD) and has spent more time in this cute little box than on a tripod The lenses are impeccable- And because its so precious, the tripod he uses for it is stout- I for the life of me can't find a model number but, it has a Brunton sticker down the leg. the stats on it are as follows: Brunton aluminum 3 sec legs Height with only the legs extended- 55" Height with legs and neck extended- 70" Collapsed- 23 1/2" Weight- 6 lbs she's big but strong a bull moose those stats are the legs only- it also has a Manfroto 3265 pistol grip head both the head and tripod have been used but not abused. He's looking to get $1900 for the scope (yes I've looked on line and there are comparable prices but if you find a better deal he'll work with you) The tripod and head- $180 thanks for looking- Dave

Dang your boy wasted no time!!! big time congrats......

It doesn't take long Mike- I got mine in a week. I originally ordered the multicam pattern but it was on a 6-8 week back order. I didn't have time to wait for the material to arrive so I went with the Coyote Brown- since it wasn't what I originally ordered they ate the shipping fee and upgraded it to second day.....in the end, I like the brown a little better anyway. Dave

Mike- just based on dimesnions, the Bighorn and the Dragon Slayer seem to be the same pack. the extra cubes appear to come from the stuff panel and the live wing waist belt is standard on the Big Horn. You can't go wrong with that dude either. had I been able to get it without the live wing I may have gone that way too. The standard waist belt for me is perfect. They ask for your waist size when ordering and I initially though it was for the length of the belt. What it is for though is to fit the padded portion of the belt to your hip bones. The Live Wing up grade just seems bulky for what I plan to do with this pack. the standard belt gives you padding where you need it and nothing more. I could be totally wrong but, as much bending as Im forced to do when negotiating some hill sides it seems having extra padding on the abdomen would limit some of my movement. That being said, I may max my pack out one day and wish I had that extra padding but the way the standard waist belt performed, I can see my legs giving out under a larger load before my hips do.

Great eye Allen!! Green he was 15 7/8".......

Picked up from the Taxidermist today- coolest buck I've taken and certainly my biggest One big happy family Thanks for looking- hope you enjoy him, I know I'm going to...... Dave

BTW- Thanks to everyone for their comments. As proud as I am of all of the animals I dsiplay in my home for personal reasons, I am equally as proud of the works of art I get back. After seeing what TAM has gone through, I feel even more fortunate- Thanks Mike, you do great work buddy!!

Thanks bubba- 120" is a little steep though. I do that and I'll have to start hunting muleys again And you know the bets on- gotta warn you, this time I plan on getting my dollar back..

outstanding buck and mount- congrats.....

I don't know where it all comes from but its just taking up space that I am rapidly running out of so here we go: 1999 Kawasaki Praire 300, automatic 2x4. Great little bike- box, racks, and ramps included. garage kept, low use: $1750obo Nikon Spotter XL II- 16-48x60: $300 Manfrotto 3001BD w/ 486RC2 head. excellent condition: $130 (prefer to keep together) Badlands Diablo day pack- used for two hunts: $120 Fieldline day pack: $50 Blacks Creek Jim Horn Series Fanny pack w/shoulder straps: $50 Have additional photos of all items if needed- A portion of sales will go back CWT.com Thanks for looking, Dave

Another stud bro- looks great!!!

Coues79, I have spent a countless hours behind both glass and currently own the Kaibab's. Price wasn't the main consideration for the purchase but weighing price vs. glass quality was. To me, the clarity difference wasn't so great that I could justify the additional cost. The Kaibabs are a quality binocular and you certainly won't be disappointed in the their performance. That being said, owning the Kiababs for awhile I will let you in on the subtle differences: 1) the eye pieces are more comfortable to me on the Kaibabs. The shape fits under my neanderthal brow much more comfortably. That being said, the eye cups have a tendancy slip their position in transport so, if a quick look at something is necessary you need to be aware of that. makes it a bit tricky when one cup is collapsed and the other is fully extended. 2) the center focus and right diopter knobs are soft and again have a tendancy to slip during transport. Those two quirks could certainly annoy someone who is use to assuming the postion, jamming the binocular in their eye and getting their glass on. Its become a routine to me when setting up the legs so the annoying issue has gone away. 3) extreme low light at long distance- swarovski's swaro-brite coating gives it the advantage. Can't say for certain that there is a huge difference in the clarity, but certainly brightness which helps. 4) Finally the warranty- I've heard mixed reviews on the swarovski warranty. some folks have had nothing but the best customer service, while others have had to fight a little to get the issues fixed. and although I haven't had to use it, I have heard nothing but rave reviews from people who have needed to deal with the Vortex folks. That could change in time as their popularity grows but for now it seems they are superior in that department. You really can't go wrong- if money is no issue buy the Swaro's, they aren't one of the top dogs because they make a crappy product. Vortex is coming though and I can see them fighting for one of the top three or four spots soon enough and that price difference will close drastically when it does...... Hope all that jibberish helps- Stay loose, Dave

Thanks Jim- I appreciate the time you took to respond. Dave

Hey Jim, thanks for the insight. Curious what direction the G&F leans on the subject- I realize the odds of rolling up on a Hybrid are rare and most of us won't have to worry about seeing one, let alone killing one in our life time. With that said, your statement on not shooting a buck that looks "funny", and a prior statement in this thread about a WM would have taken it had it been a whitetail hunt caught me off guard. Can animal identification and a subsequent game law infraction really come down to DNA and gland location when general characteristics show differently? There certainly are funny looking critters running around out there, all shapes and sizes, but the very trademark that gave the whitetail its name cant be overlooked can it? I've seen some big eared, mule headed, fork antlered whitetail and some dainty, basket racked, ninja skilled mule deer but I'm pretty sure I've never seen a mule deer "flag". Reminds me of the Polar/grizzly bear hybrid a few years ago- that dude jumped through way too many hoops for something that seemed obvious on a common sense level. Mother nature does what she does and much as we'd like to think we can control her, we can't. things happen...Look at the platypus . Any unit with a sustainable population of both species has the potential to pitch a hybrid and some day one lucky hunter's dream buck has the potential of becoming a nightmare because its metatarsal gland is too big, small, high or low. Dave

Couple of beautiful bucks bra, congrats...... Great pictures and a write up as well, thanks for posting'em up..... "I laid on my belly in the prone position for a few hours waiting" BTW- Way easier on your belly in the prone position than standing in the prone position. You made an excellent choice....

Funny what 3 feet can do for a view window. Thanks to a hard rock, a boney posterior and a bad knee I had to change my glassing position from sitting to standing in order to work some of the kinks outta the ol' body That little change in vertical distance got me just high enough to see over a chunk of sage on the next ridge. The setting sun lit up top of the tines enough to give away the location of this treasure....... Pretty cool I thought- Usually I just stumble up on things. Rarely glass them up.....

107 1/8 October 23, 2009

Good looking buck for sure.....Nicely done fellas, nicely done.

Wow, what an amazing deer and outstanding story- Congratulations!!

Outstanding kiddo- what a great read and fantastic pics! congratulations.......

Shrinkage or not- A tale like that doesn't need the tape. Getting the chance to put him on the ground after a few misses weeks earlier is pretty freakin' cool.......Nicely done.....